This might be pushing the limits of what my blog is all about.  After all, Friendly’s is a national brand.  But you know what? They just shut down the last of our Friendly’s stores in Ohio last year, and some of the memories with my mom consist of going to the Friendly’s down the street when I was a little one back in the early nineties. (And, more recently, going to our last remaining local one with my wife before that one shut down.)  If nothing else, I’ll justify it as being an ode to my childhood; a trip down memory lane, and the fact Aldi carried it as a special buy only strengthens my argument.  Although, in all honesty, it’s my blog, so I really don’t have to justify it at all.  Ha!

This particular Friendly’s dessert consists of a square-shaped “loaf” of ice cream.  It consists of three layers:  A chocolate ice cream layer on the bottom, a second layer of vanilla in the middle, and then a top layer made to taste like frosting, complete with multi-colored sprinkles.  In between each layer are some “chocolatey crunchies” as the box excitedly declares.

In all honesty, there’s nothing spectacular about this.  The chocolate ice cream is just straight up chocolate ice cream, with no decadent modifications.  Ditto for the vanilla, and between those two layers, you’re looking at upwards of 80% of the whole thing.  But you know what?  Maybe it’s those aforementioned memories talking, or my absolute love of ice cream cakes and desserts, but there’s just something about it that I liked.  Part of it is certainly the frosting-flavored top layer, which is perfectly creamy and sweet and reminds one of a birthday cake from their youth.  The chocolatey crunchies, again, the biggest selling point according to the packaging, are also good, though rather skimpy.

I also like the inspired “loaf” shape, which I think actually encourages smaller servings.  My wife and I, who are both huge into ice cream treats of almost any kind, ended up getting about ten sized servings by cutting them no thicker than a slice of bread, and they ended up being the perfect size to fulfill our ice cream cravings.  That made me feel like we easily got our $5 worth.

Overall: 7.5/10.  There’s really nothing spectacular at all about this treat, with the possible exception of the excellent top layer, which tastes like frosting.  Other than that, you get little more than unmodified chocolate and vanilla layers, with a thin addition of little chocolate crunchies in between.  But you know what?  I enjoyed it, and would get it again in a heartbeat.  Most of that love might stem from childhood memories of eating at Friendly’s restaurants with my mom (they just shut down all of them in Ohio last year, but not before my wife, mom, and step dad traveled an hour each way just to eat there one final time), but for the $4.99 Aldi asking price, my wife and I got about six servings apiece, and they were enough to satisfy our ice cream cravings.  There may not be anything fancy here, but it’s simple, it’s good, and the price is right.  Grab one before they sell out!